United 93 2006
When The 9/11 Commission Report came out I remember reading the first part and thinking it would make a great movie. The report was well researched and organized, giving a step-by-step account of what happened with the hijackings and aftermath. It was just the right amount of detail to give an accurate picture, nothing extraneous, but nothing left out. This is one version of that book, probably the best version that could be made. It follows the flight of United 93 (the chapter in The 9/11 Commission Report is called “The Battle for United 93” and I wonder why that wasn’t chosen for the movie; maybe too ostentatious). In so doing the movie must cover the earlier hijackings and you get a good overall picture of what happened at the FAA, military, and control towers, but can concentrate on the one flight where the terrorists were defeated.
The movie itself is very simple. It is essentially a re-enactment of certain events. It shows air traffic controllers, military bureacrats, passengers, flight crew, the hijackers, etc. You do not see anything that happened on the other flights or any White House staff, including the President. You don’t even see the F-16 pilots or the families of the victims. There are no flashbacks, no explanations, and not even times and places like on CSI. You are pretty much watching in real time, though they do tell you who certain people are. You won’t even recognize any of the actors, and in fact a key FAA administrator portrays himself on what was his first day in that position.
The acting can be a bit stiff. Also it is hard to catch everything they say and some of it is important. A lot of what is portrayed on the flight must be speculative, but not unrealistic. The docudrama format doesn’t leave much room for explanation and context, but I’m not sure it is really necessary. If you feel ready to watch a movie about one of the hijackings, then this is a great start. And if you like the movie, you should definitely read The 9/11 Commission Report that it was based on. A-.
Written: 11 Sep 2006
Owned on: Digital